Auntie Maria's Sausage and Pepper Delight

My Uncle Fred has this fabulous Italian girlfriend named Maria, who I think I may just start calling Auntie after she so graciously shared a simple and easy recipe with me. She recently threw a retirement party for my uncle and had a great buffet laid out including these lovely sausages in a crock pot. She said she doesn't usually put them in the crock pot but did for the party so they would stay warm. I am here to tell you the crock pot is the magic ingredient for this recipe, as I am now fully addicted to this dish. It turns the peppers into soft, delicious bites of heaven and the low heat keeps the sausage nice and moist. The other important thing is getting the right kind of Italian sausage. For example, I tried two different kinds of sausage when I made this, and one of them had caraway seeds in the sausage. I think it was Sweet Sausage. Anyway, no amount of yummy pepper/olive oil marination is going to take away my supreme dislike of caraway seeds, so I didn't love those sausages. But the other kind I tried tasted great with the peppers, so make sure you buy what you normally would love. Auntie Maria suggests a mild sausage like Colosimo's, and if you can't find that brand look for a mild Italian sausage, as the peppers do add a bit of spiciness to the dish. But if you love spicy then get that spicy sausage and do it up all together. I want to say this dish is an appetizer, but it could easily be an entree. Maybe that's just me. I would totally eat this for dinner. Or lunch. Or brunch. Or at a party. I'm showing my addiction, here. But try it and leave me a comment about how you use this dish in your menus. I'd love to know.

Auntie Maria's Italian Sausage and Peppers

3-4 links of Italian sausage, your favorite flavor or brand

1 large onion

1 large green pepper

1 large red pepper

1 large yellow pepper

1-2 cloves garlic, minced

1/4 cup good olive oil

kosher salt

black pepper

Bake the sausage in the oven on a large cookie sheet at 350 degrees for 30 minutes or until no pink is left inside. Don't pierce the skins or bake on too high of a temperature or else your sausages will be dried out instead of moist. After they are done baking, remove them from the oven and let them rest for a few minutes for the juices to redistribute into the sausage. Core, seed and slice the peppers into steak fry slices. Cut the onion in half and slice vertically. Mince the garlic. Add olive oil to a nonstick skillet and bring to medium heat. Slowly cook or "sweat" the onion, garlic and peppers until soft and tender. Add a pinch of salt and pepper and stir well. Cut the sausages into chunks and place into a greased crock pot and add the peppers. Mix well. Add the lid and cook on "lo" two hours until veggies are soft and tender.

(Note: another option I saw recently on the internet was to saute the veggies, place the whole sausages on top of the veggies, cover with foil and bake at 350 for 45 minutes. That might be a good route to take if you don't have a crock pot.)

Happy eating!

Gluten Free Peanut Butter Corn Chex Treats

This is one of those times when I'm looking through my blog archives thinking, haven't I written about those yet? Lo and behold, I haven't. Peanut Butter Corn Chex Treats (such a creative name) are my husband's favorites and every time I make them he and Sam pretty much eat the whole batch by themelves. I love that they are a mix of healthy and unhealthy, salt and sweet, because that's pretty much how I roll these days. They are simple and easy (I had the 13 year old make them last night) and fun to make with kids. The original recipe calls for Corn Flakes, but since those are not gluten free, I substitute the now-gluten free Corn Chex. There are some gluten free corn flake brands out there, and if there's one you like, feel free to substitute those in.

Peanut Butter Corn Chex Treats

1 cup brown sugar

1 cup light Karo syrup

1 cup peanut butter

1/2 box Corn Chex cereal (4 cups)

Put brown sugar, syrup, and peanut butter into a large pan and bring to a boil over medium heat. Remove from heat and add cereal. Mix thoroughly. Drop by scoopful onto foil. (Never use waxed paper on this recipe. You will never get the treats off!)Let set for 5-10 minutes to cool.

Simple, easy, delicious, and gluten free. Aahhhh, those are the best recipes of all.

Happy eating!

Gluten Free Scrumptious Chicken, Crock Pot Style

There is this crock pot cookbook out there that I just love. In fact, I have two of them, I love it so much. It's called The Fix It and Forget It Cookbook: Feasting with your Slow Cooker. It's pretty popular, so chances are you have one, too. It has all kinds of great crock pot recipes and one of my favorites is called Scrumptious Chicken. You are supposed to make it with Cream of Chicken soup and Onion Soup mix and Sour Cream, all of which need to be chosen carefully if you are eating gluten free. But this dish is so great it's worth the extra minute it takes to choose your ingredients.

First, I put four packets of Lipton Creamy Chicken Cup-A-Soup, which I also cleverly used here, in a microwaveable bowl and add 1 1/2 cups of water. After whisking it together, I microwave it for two minutes and 15 seconds until it's nice and thick. Voila! Two cans' worth of cream of chicken soup. To that I add one packet of Western Family Onion Soup mix or Lipton Onion Soup Mix, which by my readings of the package is gluten free. Then I add 1 cup of gluten free Sour Cream. Most Meadow Gold, Cream of Weber, Harmon's brands are gluten free. Just give the package a quick scan to make sure. Then mix those ingredients together well and set aside.

Then I take 4-6 boneless chicken breasts and sear them on both sides in a pan on high heat just to seal in the juices. I place the chicken in my Pam-sprayed Old Reliable crock pot and pour the sauce mixture over. Cook on low for 4-6 hours and serve with rice and a vegetable. I happen to make white rice for dinner. I know Jillian Michaels is probably rolling her eyes at that, but I'm lucky to get the kids I have to eat the white rice as it is, so sorry. But it would probably work just as well with brown rice if that's your choice, or if you have dietary issues with the white kind. I spoon the sauce over the rice and it is by far the best part of the meal. Give it a try next time you are going to be home late to start dinner, or double the recipe if you're having people over. It truly is Scrumptious Chicken.
Happy eating!

The Old Spaghetti Factory: Now Serving Gluten Free Dinners

The birthday love just keeps on comin'. Since last week we were recovering from our little stint in the hospital and two of my kids were gone on a trip, we decided to spend Monday night at The Old Spaghetti Factory with my parents for a belated birthday dinner for me, complete with gluten full cake for everyone else from the best bakery in the world which I sorely miss, Dick's Bakery in Bountiful:

But I got spumoni, so it was not a total loss. I chose The Old Spaghetti Factory because I know they serve gluten free pasta, and just about anyone with kids will tell you if the restaurant serves any kind of noodles, you're good to go for picky eaters.

So the dinners came and I ordered the gluten free pasta with marinara sauce and Italian sausage. The sausage was divine, the sauce was tangy and tomato-ey, and the pasta was...DeBoles. Not my favorite brand by far. I love Tinkyada soooooo much that it is difficult for me to even stomach other brands now. The meal wasn't bad, and the pasta wasn't too terrible, it just wasn't my favorite pasta. I noticed that it was printed on their menus that they proudly serve DeBoles, which makes me think that probably all The Old Spaghetti Factories around the U.S. use it. Which is a shame. Where were the Tinkyada reps when all this went down? Get in there and fight for this account! The gluten free eaters of the world are begging you...pitch your product to The Old Spaghetti Factory! Not that I'm a marketing genius or anything, I'm just saying...

Anyway, this is a great dinner option for all of us who live near an Old Spaghetti Factory. They have a full gluten free menu ready to go, you just have to ask for it when you order. Maybe they will get wind of all of us who want Tinkyada pasta and switch over. Now THAT would be a birthday present to remember!

Happy eating out!

Gluten Free Lemonade: A No-Brainer

This may come as a surprise to some of you, but I've never made lemonade from scratch before. The only lemonade I've ever made either has a picture of a talking pitcher or says "Country Time" on it. And to be honest, I've never liked either one very much. So, I owe it to my son for watching "Max and Ruby" and deciding he was up for teaching me how to make yummy lemonade that takes about three minutes and tastes great. When I was a kid, my dad would always be in charge of the punch for our large family gatherings. He would stir, taste, add, taste, and look like a witch stirring her cauldron every single time. The right balance of sour and sweet was very important to him. One of the ingredients I remember he always used was lemon juice, and to this day, I never make Kool-Aid without adding a few tablespoons to it. It really does make it taste better.

First of all, let me begin by saying I truly love my Pampered Chef Quick Stir pitcher. There. Brazen plug for favorite product? Check. It especially comes in handy when making this lemonade, as it helps to squish the lemons and juice them and also acts as a natural strainer for the lemon pieces and most of the seeds, if some happen to make it into your lemonade. This is not a completely scientific process, and, to be quite honest, everyone likes their drinks a little differently, so this may not suit your taste. But for a non-lemonade lover to make this three times in one week and drink most of it, I think that says something.

Quick Lemonade

1. Fill a pitcher half full with cold, cold water.

2. Add 2/3 cup of sugar

3. Add 1/3 + 2T bottled lemon juice

4. Slice 1 lemon and remove as many seeds as you can. Add to the pitcher.

5. Stir (or plunge, if you have the quick stir pitcher) and try to mash the lemons a little to get the pulp out and release the oils from the lemon's zest for extra flavor.

6. Drink with ice cubes, if desired.

As I said, not too scientific, and you fully have the freedom to add more or less sugar, depending on how tart you like your lemonade. If you are a super tart person I would slice two lemons and add 1/2 cup of lemon juice. But play around with it. You may find a new favorite!

Sam and I actually had a great time together coming up with this little recipe, even though I was skeptical and had a "mercy drink" of our first concoction, it ended up being refreshing and yummy at the same time. These are the best parts of goofing off in the kitchen! You go in to appease your kid and end up loving what you make.

And if you are hosting a party for a crowd, this is an economical option: lemons are only about 50 cents each, sugar and water are usually available in every home, and it's easy to double or triple the recipe if needed. And if you run out? Head to the kitchen and make another quick batch. Your guests won't even know you've gone missing. We are so drinking this at Wyatt's baptism in July this year...

Happy eating!

(Post script: I forgot to mention...take the lemons out when you are going to put it into the fridge after you've gotten it the way you like it. The lemons will continue to leach out their lemony flavor and by tomorrow your lemonade will taste like pure lemon peel. So leave them in for the party, but once you are ready to store it for later, take the lemon slices out and throw them away. MA)

Learning to Cook Gluten Free from an actual Professional...It's a Good Thing

This week I took a gluten free cooking class at the Viking Cooking School in South Salt Lake. I thought I would go in there and there'd be one or two other people and someone who showed us how to substitute rice flour for wheat flour and we'd be done. Wow. Was I ever wrong.

First of all, let me begin by saying you are going to have to put up with photos that I took on my phone, because I completely forgot my camera that day. However, you'll get the gist and also see that chubby people like me STILL look chubby when their pictures are taken with a phone. And when they stand next to slender chefs. Moving on...second of all, it was a dream come true to walk into that fully functioning kitchen and play around with all the great equipment. There were 13 Boos Blocks alone in that room! Five ovens! Pans that were so heavy we really should have tag teamed them when we drained our pasta! Super sharp knives! They even had little glass bowls that you measured a teaspoon of baking powder into before you added it to your bowl! And best of all, they had this little piece of machinery:

This is TJ. He got us all our supplies, watched the ovens, whipped cream, and whisked away all the dirty dishes for us. I really wanted to take him home with me. Only because he's such a hard worker, of course, for all you folks with naughty brains out there.

Our instructor's name was Trish. For anyone out there who wants to learn how to cook and bake gluten free, Trish is your girl. She's a fabulous instructor who really knows her stuff. She is a fellow celiac and is basically a food whisperer. She taught us how to make five (5!) different gluten free dishes: a crusty bread, a chocolate tart, a tomato tart, macaroni and cheese, and banana walnut muffins. By the time I was done tasting everything I was so full I could have popped. It was a good thing. To get any of these great recipes, call the Viking Cooking School and ask them when Trish's next class is and then sign up for it that minute. You will never regret it.

Here's some of the things I learned in the heavenly Viking kitchen:

1. Gluten free flours have a slower rate of absorption than regular flours, which is why sometimes they look like great doughs and turn out completely dry and cracked. To compensate for that you not only need more liquid but you need to let the dough mix or be worked longer, and then you can add more moisture if needed.

2. It's easier to mix a tart dough with your hands rather than a pastry cutter. Trust me on this, get in there and mash it up. Nothing works better.

3. Some people bake bread in pans. Other people put a huge mound of dough onto a hot baking stone in an oven and bake it just like that. And it makes divine bread.

4. The more oily your hands are when working with sticky, gloppy, gluten free flour, the better. Make sure to rub it into the crevices and cracks. You'll be glad you did.

5. A gluten free dough should be totally sticky and gloppy because it is slowly absorbing all that moisture as it bakes. So if you can't get it off your hands or spatula, that means your dough is a good one.

6. It's easier to scoop muffin batter using a large ice cream scoop with one of those little things that flicks it out on the underside of the scoop. No lie, I totally had to go and buy one after the class. I'll never drip batter with the underside of a measuring cup again.

7. Some people can get 4 slices out of a tomato, some can get 20. I'm not going to say which one I was. Not the 20.

I learned other things that don't really matter, too, but that were super fun to learn about anyway. Like, for example, there's a guy named Joe Sargentakis who will taste just about anything while you are making it. And his last name is really fun to say, over and over again. And I learned that Jennifer was not only the mother of a young girl who just found out she has celiac's disease and that she knows my neighbor, but that she is a magnet for hot, boiling, splashing water. Maybe we'd better not talk about that part. I also learned that there are people who not only don't eat wheat, but they also eat Living or Raw Foods, and are totally healthy and happy doing it. Joline runs a very affordable class for people who are interested in how to eat Raw Foods, and she actually has a class coming up on February 3. Check out her website, http://www.healthylivingwithjoline.com/ or call 801-8085966 if you are interested. But the most important thing I learned is that it's always a good thing to learn more about what you eat and how you prepare it, and that it's even more fun when you do it with 12 other people. And one day I hope I win a contest where Viking comes and guts my kitchen and replaces it with one of theirs. I'm just saying.

Happy eating!

Planning to Eat Gluten Free

So often on this blog I have given this advice: Cook as much of your own food as you can, and you'll feel better. I totally agree with my own advice (of course), but I have to admit that sometimes I have a hard time following my own advice. So many nights I am faced with the 5:00 dinner prep hour and still have yet to decide what to eat or if I even have ingredients to make what sounds good to me. What usually ends up happening is that we either eat breakfast food or fast food, and although those are fine once in a while, it can get really old really fast.

The best thing I can do to eat better and be better prepared for the dinnertime rush is perhaps the simplest: make a list. If I take a few minutes before I go to the grocery store on Saturdays and jot down a quick weekly menu, I can make a more prepared grocery list and be sure to have the ingredients for those dinners I have planned for. I also feel a lot better having a plan for meals because I have a habit of letting the day get away from me and I can look at my meal for the day in the morning and sort of give myself a deadline as to when I need to start cooking dinner. I like to plan based on who is going to be home for dinner and what we have going on that night. Sometimes we need to be done eating by 7, sometimes we don't get home until 7, so I usually plan my slow cookers and quick dinners around that.

I also believe in trying to only go to the grocery store once a week. Sometimes I'll have to run back during the week for something, but I really try not to. For one, I don't have time during the week to shop, for another, I'm really trying to trim my expenses this year since I'm saving up for a grand kitchen remodel that may never happen. Nonetheless, shopping smarter is definitely on the horizon for me in 2010. What are your favorite dinnertime time savers?

Happy planning!